We went to check out a rental place in south-eastern Minneapolis today and I'm giddy about it. It's the upper floor of a duplex (which means we would be the noisy upstairs neighbors instead of waking up to them at 7am), and has teeny bedrooms but a huge common area that makes us wonder what we could possibly do with all of the space. The three bathrooms to four bedrooms ratio brings me back to the wonderful childhood days of never having to wait for a sibling or a parent to stop hogging the bathroom when you're trying to get ready in the morning or just gotta go. :P I really think this place could be a kickass location for this bunch. I'm hoping things go smoothly in the near future for the boys getting a new place (this one?) and me getting out of my current place and going through whatever may come in dealing with my family on the issue.

Sure the idea of her and what she does are a little nuts, but I have been finding myself more and more fascinated by some of the ideas Martha Stewart kicks out of her fanatically organized, ever-so-crafty and original brain. Then there is Not Martha for those that are slightly less inclined to dole out a spotless product every time, and who don't necessarily need to have their silverware coordinate with their chair cushions. I may need to find some holiday in the near future as an excuse to make these. A substitute for Easter eggs perhaps (since all they ever do is sit all beautifully colored getting rotten over the course of a month or two in a grey paper carton in the fridge)?

I want one.

Matt installed Greymatter on my site a few days ago and I finally have the motivation to start setting it up. Now I can't figure out HOW and he's off working somewhere. That'll teach me to be lazy for days on end when he's urging me to work on it. :P [/sarcasm]

I should make mention to the kickass Wiki he also put up on Magnificentwheat a few days ago. The concept is fabulous. The reader can edit ANYthing on the site and it turns into a big mess of links and a whole lot of wacky content. RussellFreedom for president in 2004!

I was paid quite a compliment at work today by one of the few people that I converse with on a fairly regular basis. He mentioned that I do what needs to be done around there; that I "keep a low profile and run under the radar," which allows me to get away with a little bit more than the average person. I was just starting to think it was exactly what was holding me back, as some of the loud brash folks seem to have the supervisors wrapped around their fingers, but I think he's right. I'm flying low, getting my work done and doing it well, and in the long run, I hopefully come out on top.

"How to bury a drunk." (via memepool)

[rina] bbc's olympics site is cool
[rina] lots of stats
[porked] who one the womens curling event?
[rina] hah
[rina] you seriously wanna know?
[porked] unfortunatley.
[rina] Women's Preliminaries Draw 7
[rina] Britain 7 Switzerland 4
[rina] Canada 8 Germany 4
[rina] Norway 5 Russia 4
[rina] Sweden8 Japan 7
[rina] whatever that means
[HighElf] go canada go?
[porked] i some how got stuck watching that last night and never got to wee how it turned out.
[rina] what do those scores mean?
[HighElf] don't have any idea how curling works.
[rina] i know nothing about that .."sport"
[rina] heh
[porked] i have no idea either
[rina] hahahaha
[HighElf] heh
[HighElf] but the disc thingys move around and hit each other. :P

.....Does anyone have any insight into this?

What an excessively cool site for an exsessively strange car. It's growing on me.... I think I need the Mini Cooper S in British Racing Green with a black roof.

Grr, I was so looking forward to the weekend, to staying up late, to playing games til all hours of the night. Got out of work and all was well for a couple of hours, got some supper, ran an errand, then found out that I can't play the game I wanted to play because of some bullshit with my computer and rampant stubornness. And now it's not even 10:00 and I'm out of gas for the night. I don't want to give in and go to bed. It seems like such a waste of good weekend. So here I sit, wasting away, staring at webpages I don't even care about, and wishing someone would talk to me. So, so pathetic.

Well said.

"A chocolate husband. Oh, how darling!"
~ Majula, The Simpsons

"There's a nut in my eye."
~ Apu, The Simpsons

Things I miss about cable television:
. Cirque du Soleil broadcasted every so often on Bravo... I miss this the most.
. Junkyard Wars (and everything else on TLC). Yes, even a random "Wedding Story" mush fest once in a while.
. The Travel Channel. This channel is great on lazy weekend afternoons.
. VH1
. The Weather Channel. The web is a great substitute, but not on a dialup, and I miss a few of the specials.
. seeing The Simpsons static-less without having to stand next to the television holding onto the antenna.
. The Discovery Channel

Happy Valentines Day!

I love you with all of my heart, Matty.

"They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them, but then an entire life to forget them."

"The dance of fear and desire, the duel of friction and gravity, the deadlock of speed and security. This is skiing. Your fingers so cold you can hardly grip your poles, your eyelashes stuck together. Your skis carving a graffiti message of perfect arcs into winter's white indifference, winter's pale skin, the language of linked arcs, circle talk, S-curve whispers in the wind, spindrift flying off cornices, frost feathers in the snow shooting back darts of light, that first light in the first moments of the first run in the first morning of the world, diamond sparkles, angel dust in the air..."

I'm getting the bug in me again. It's the time of year where I either need to start thinking about getting out there on the slopes or just call it another year. I think we may finally have some decent snow around here, and we're supposed to get another eight inches or so over the weekend. Yeah, I think Wild Mountain or maybe even Afton Alps are in my near future.

The fuse is shortening and I'm scared it's about to
BLOW.

I found this amongst some text files I've written and kept on my computer. It's apparantly from September 12th, 2001.

'I drove near downtown Minneapolis tonight on a freeway interchange that I have always loved because it gives such a beautiful and unadulterated view of the downtown skyline, which is especially gorgeous at night. I know that I find so much comfort in the beauty of this familiar sight. The New York skyline was dramatically changed yesterday, and it will be a while before we know if it will ever be the same again. To see such a dramatic change will be an ever present reminder for the New York people of the tragedy that occured. The numbers of estimated deaths keep fluctuating, but already they are unimaginable. There will be a gaping hole in their city, which represents a much larger gaping hole in the survivors' lives.'

And from September 26th:

'I have a sticker that says, "Not all who wander are lost." That does not apply. I am wandering and confused and don't know what to do with myself. I've lost him. I've lost my connection with the most wonderful man I've ever met. I'm trying to figure out where to go next, what to do to make the pain a little more bearable. The thing that is killing me is that I think things could have been better. One more shot. And that is too much to ask now. I have had an awakening. My heart has spent the last two weeks in a strange solitude and during that time has come to revelations. Unfortunately, much too late. I am a mess of anger (at myself), frustration, promise, and pain.'

My mind was jumbled up muck then. Not that I'm any less jumbled up now, but I'm definitely not so mucky. "Hello sunsine," he said this afternoon. Not only was it there drying the roads, but it has found it's way back into my life as well.